Man Am I In Trouble
by CoCoPixie134
Summary: The drama has come to an end.Troy was hit by a car, and now the gang has figured out who hit him. THE END Please, no flames!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Nightmare Day

Troy was having a pleasant dream when all of a sudden his bed started vibrating violently. He tried to ignore it, but it kept on getting stronger and stronger until, finally, he woke up. Troy rubbed his eyes, stretched sleepily, and screamed. He had seen the culprit of the vibrations, his dad, Jack Bolton.

"Dad!" Troy half-yelled," What are you doing?"

"It's 5:15, Troy. I've been shaking you for five minutes!" his father replied, quite obviously annoyed.

"Sorry, Dad, it's just that I'm so tired!"

"Stop the excuses and get moving!"

His father made him run two miles as a warm-up. Then, they ran every drill his dad could think of. Finally, after an hour and a half of hard work, he let Troy practice his shooting as a cool-down. By the time they finished, Troy's feet were blistered badly because his shoes were too small, and, in his rush, he had forgotten to put on a pair of socks.

After Troy finished his breakfast, he went upstairs to get dressed for school. He said goodbye to his parents and walked slowly to the bus stop on his blistered feet.

His luck ran out completely right before he turned the last corner. When he was just in sight of the bus stop, the bus was pulling away.

"Hey!" he yelled," Wait for me!"

The bus didn't turn or stop. Frustrated, Troy walked home only to find that his parents had already left. At this moment, he really wished he hadn't crashed into that car the day he got his driver's license. He would have to walk to school.

Thinking about the car crash somehow made him think about Gabriella's dad. How had he died? Was it a long time ago? Maybe he died in a car crash. Troy wondered this all the way to school. It kept his mind off of how tired he was and how raw his feet were.

Troy arrived at school an hour and ten minutes late and received a detention for his unexcused tardiness. He was so tired from being up at 5:00 that he almost walked into the wrong class. When he finally arrived at the right classroom and his teacher had finished yelling at him, the bell rang.

Chad walked up to his friend, "Troy, are you okay?"

Troy fell against the lockers.

Chad said, "Whoa, man. That's the wrong locker. Troy! Sorry," Chad said to the girl waiting for her locker, pulling his friend off the wall.

"I'm awake, Dad. I promise!" Troy said sleepily to his confused friend.

"Apparently not, Troy," Gabriella said, as she and Taylor walked up.

"Troy, what happened to you?" Taylor sounded worried.

"I missed the bus and my feet are kill-kill-killing me," Troy said, trying to stifle a yawn.

Chad joked, "Dude, you're one of the fastest runners on the team. School isn't that far away from your house."

Gabriella put on a sympathetic face, "Unless you were up at 5:00 practicing with your dad. You have blisters, don't you?"

Troy nodded.

"How bad are they?" Taylor inquired.

"Bad," Troy insisted.

"Come on, man; you've got to get to study hall with Darbus, unless you want another detention.

**Later: In Study Hall**

Troy was so tired; he fell asleep when Ms. Darbus walked out of the room. Chad decided to let him sleep until their teacher came back. On the other side of the room, however, a plan was formulating in Sharpay's head.

Stealthily, she and Ryan crept a tiny bit closer to Troy. Ryan walked up to Chad and started to talk to him about basketball, confusing a homerun with a slam dunk. Once Sharpay saw that Chad was out of the way, she snuck up to Troy and snapped a picture of him drooling on his hand, fast asleep.

She silently mouthed, "Got it," to Ryan, and they got back to their desks just as Ms. Darbus walked in the room.

Her eyes zoomed in on Troy Bolton, he was asleep! _How could he! _She walked up to his friend, Zeke, and said,

"Wake him up."

_There's no way I'm going to touch a drooling person!_

Zeke shook Troy. Troy woke up and sleepily said,

"EARTHQUAKE!"

Ryan and Sharpay snickered behind their hands.

"Mr. Bolton!" Ms. Darbus shouted, "I'll give you an earthquake…in detention!"

Troy was so exhausted, he couldn't even get names straight, "Yes, sir, I mean," Troy groaned and put his head on his desk, for this he got sent to the principal's office.

**In Principal Matsui's Office**

Troy was sitting quietly in a chair when Principal Matsui walked past. Troy was sitting so quietly, too quietly. The principal looked closer. Troy's eyes were closed and his mouth was open.

_By George! The boy's asleep!_

"Troy," he said softly, shaking him.

"Wuzzgoinon?" He asked sleepily, and looking around urgently.

"Troy," The principal said, losing his patience, "I think it would be best for you to step into my office for a moment." He opened the door and ushered Troy inside.

"What's happened? Is it my sister?" Troy sounded worried.

"No…" Principal Matsui said confused, "It's not your…_sister_…I hear you got two detentions and you were sent to my office because you called your teacher _sir._"

"So?" Troy asked. _What's wrong with being polite?_

"It was Ms. Darbus," the principal said.

"_Oh_," Troy said. _I am in _so _much trouble._

"I'm sorry, Troy," the principal said, "I'm just very confused…

_You and I both, _Troy couldn't help but think.

"You have a sister?"

"Um…Mrs. …I mean…Mr. Matsui…I'm just really tired…" Troy began to apologize.

"Just get to class, Mr. Bolton," the principal said.

"Yes, ma'am," Troy said and he rushed out the door before the principal could even yell at him.

Troy ran absentmindedly down the hall. He couldn't be late for class again. He just couldn't.

Troy walked up to a locker. Any locker. It didn't matter. He leaned against the cold metal. Nothing was more inviting then a nice, cold, metal locker. Even with the lock jammed into his head, Troy started to fall asleep once again.

His dad walked up behind him, "Troy?" His son was now reciting lyrics and dribbling an air basketball.

_Coach said to, fake right and break left_

_Watch out for the pick and keep your eye on defense_

_Gotta run the give'n'go_

_Take the ball to the-_

Troy opened one sleepy eye, "Not you!" He groaned looking at his father.

"Good morning to you, too, Troy," His father said.

"No fair! I just got away from you! And now you're back! You've come to, like, haunt me, haven't you?"

_The boy's insane, _Mr. Bolton thought, _He sounds like a girl, that Gabriella Montez girl must be having a bad effect on him, and besides, who doesn't love an early morning workout?_

"Troy, do you want to-," his father began, but Troy immediately cut him off.

"Dad, please, Dad, please just let me go to class! I begging you, just let me go to class. I just want to go learn something!" Troy begged, practically on his knees on the floor simpering.

"Okay…okay…go to class…"

"Thank you!" Troy burst out, leaping to his feet and seizing him around the waist in a chocking hug. "I love you!"

With that he ran down the hall in a desperate attempt to get away from his demanding father. He was running so quickly he ran smack-dab into the wall of lockers at the end of the hallway. Even with blood dribbling down his face, he still continued to sprint. _Anything is better than those drills!_ He thought desperately. _Even living with pink, fuzzy, high-pitched, smelly, tap-dancing armadillos!_

As he careened around another corner, he was forced to suddenly check his speed. Even though he immediately stopped running, he still managed to topple over two teenagers standing in front of him. He jumped up, apologizing profusely, but the girls just laughed at him.

Come to think of it, there was quite a lot of people standing around laughing. Everyone was crowded around a bulletin board. Troy pushed his way to the front. _Oh, God. This is bad. Could my day possibly get any worse?_

On the bulletin was Sharpay's picture of him, covered in his own drool, fast asleep.

Chad had come up behind him, both trying not to laugh and trying to find some way to preserve his friend's dignity…not that he had had any to begin with today. "Troy…run," was Chad's simple advice.

Troy did not need further encouragement. The speed at which he took off with rivaled Hurricane Andrew…on crack.

His incredible speed took him right into Ms. Darbus.

"Mr, Bolton! What is the meaning of this!"

Troy gulped, desperately trying to think of something to say. His mouth was running on its own motor however.

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello-goodbye…I'm late! I'm late! I'm... going to the principal's office! I'm going! I'm going, sir! I'm late! Darn it! Shut up!"

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

"No…I told Dorothy…Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I'm late! I'm going! I'm going! Don't eat me! I need to live! I'm too young to die!" Troy ran backwards down to the hall in a desperate attempt to get away from Ms. Darbus.

After yet another confusing trip to the principal's office, Troy gathered his things and what he hoped was his sanity. Halfway down the hall, he realized that instead of his books he had some cheerleaders pompoms. _This is the worst day I have ever had. It could not get any worse, even if I tried to make it worse. I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my father! I hate mornings! And I hate my shoes, God!_

Troy had by this time made his way to detention, Darbus style. He had the strongest urge to fling his shoes across the room at her. He restrained himself from getting yet another detention.

An hour and a half later found Troy napping on a piece of scenery. He was dreaming that all the basketballs in the gym had changed in to large yoga balls, like the one his mother had used during her "Tai chi" phase.

Sharpay, who had gotten in detention for posting pictures of him all over the school, walked up to him. "Troy," she yelled sharply. "You are breaking the scenery!"

"Never fear!" Troy murmured sleepily. "For I, the freaky call back boy, am here! A hamburger with pickles and onions please."

"Troy! What are you talking about!"

"I…um…I'm just going to shut up now."

"Troy," Sharpay said with false sincerity, "That is the best idea you have had all day."

Troy was about to say something, but then he remembered that he was shutting up.

Sharpay continued talking, oblivious to Troy's wish to be left in his misery alone. "So, how is basketball going? Troy? Troy? Answer me, Troy!"

Troy had half-fallen asleep again, but remembered to not speak.

"You need mental help!" Sharpay screamed.

"Detention dismissed," Ms. Darbus called.

Troy ran home without realizing he had gum stuck to his shoe. He burst in the door, yelling, "I'm home! I hate my life!"

"That's great, sweetie. How was-"

"School was horrible. Don't ask."

"Troy! Honey! Shut up!" his father called from the den. "Charlene is about to poison Shirley!"

Troy stared at the doorway before turning to his mother and asking, "He's watching soap opera's again?"

"I have tuna-cheese cassaroll in the oven, if you want-Oh, my God!"

"Yes, Mom, it's already burning. It's alright…I'm not hungry…skipping lunch wasn't a big deal."

"Is that blood on you're head!"

Troy slapped a hand over the cut on his forehead. "No."

"Move your hand."

"No…I…uh…" Troy invented frantically. "I have an itch."

"Jack!"

"Troy! Listen to your mother."

"But I have an itch!"

"Victor is about to propose to Lilian who is actually Olivia who is actually married, but currently dating Stephen. Don't you care?"

"NO, Dad! And stop watching soap opera's!" In order to gesture emphatically, Troy removed his hand from his head. "You are scaring the children!"

"Aren't you the children?"

"Yes, and you are creeping me out, so stop watching it!"

His mother had latched onto Troy's arm and was staring desperately at Troy's forehead. "You're head is cracked open! I'm calling the doctor! It looks infectious!"

"I'm sure it's fine," his father called from the den.

"Shut up, Jack. Watch your soap opera!"

"Mom…can I go do my homework?"

"Oh my God, you're delirious!" _I might actually agree with you there_, Troy thought. "Now remember," his mother babbled. "If you feel dizzy, put your head between your legs and breathe deeply. Remember that's 'In. Out.' Not out and in."

"Yes…thanks Mom…I forgot how to breathe."

"Oh, my God! I'm calling 911!" As soon as his mother turned away to pick up the phone, Troy made a break for the stairs. He had just reached the top of the stairs when he slipped on his shoelace and tumbled head-over-heels down the stairs.

"I'm fine!" he yelled before his mother could even comment and raced back up the stairs. He tore into his room and slammed his finger in the door. "Ow!"

"Troy!"

"I'm fine!" he yelled down to his mother. "I hate my life," he muttered, collapsing on the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: We came up with this idea one night. It's totally crazy, but I hope you like chapter 2 as much as you like chapter one! These first few chapters are really just a setup for the main plot, but they're good! We'll post the third chapter when we get five new reviews.**

Chapter Two: Broken Up

Troy was woken up the next morning by his mother. She had pity on him because of his "head injury" and made sure his father didn't wake him up for the early morning workout. He was grateful but still…

"How many times do I have to tell you? I ran into a locker!" Troy argued.

"Did someone beat you up?" Ellen Bolton asked suddenly.

"What?" Troy asked, "No."

"I'm calling the school. I swear, if someone hurt my little boy…" She walked out of the room talking to herself.

Troy realized when he was trying to put his shoes on that the pain on his feet had increased. He wrapped both feet in bandage tape & slipped his socks on. His mom would never see them. But what hurt the most was his finger. He remembered slamming it in the door & falling asleep on the ground. But know, his finger has swollen & was now a nasty pinkish purple color.

He could never hide this from his mom. But, suddenly, Troy had an idea.

Troy walked to the back of his small walk-in closet & reached for a box labeled "Snowboarding gear" in a black Sharpie marker. It was quite a large box & grabbing it with one hand was hard.

The box toppled off the shelf and onto Troy's head with a crash.

He rummaged through the pile of snowboarding gear until he found what he wanted.

He lifted the thick, black gloves and pulled them on his hands. Troy knew his mom would be suspicious considering they lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but he needed to make sure no question were asked.

Silently, Troy slipped down the stairs, skipping the squeaky step on the bottom and picked his backpack off the couch. He'd have to skip breakfast. He slid the backpack over his head and went quickly but quietly out the door. The doorknob was inches away from his out-stretched hand when his father came out from the kitchen.

"Troy," Jack Bolton asked, "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Yes," Troy lied, although his stomach growled while he was speaking, "I had a um…peanut butter on toast."

"You're allergic to peanuts, Troy." His father pointed out, skeptically.

"Oh, well, that's not good. …See you later, Dad," And he reached for the door again.

"Why are you wearing ski gloves?" Mr. Bolton asked.

Troy groaned silently, "I...um…my hands were cold?" It came out sounding like a question, not like he hoped.

His father looked down on him. He knew something was up.

"Dad, it's the new trend. I want to wear them. Please, I've got to get to the bus." He dashed out the door faster then he wanted to. He shut the door on his finger again and bit his lip forcing himself not to scream, opened the door again, and ran down the sidewalk, pulling the gloves off of his hands, wincing when he pulled the right one off and stuffing them in the back pocket of his jeans.

He was in view of the bus stop and was waving to his friends when he tripped over his untied shoelaces. He crashed to the ground and scrapped his knees, palms, and chin.

Gabriella rushed up as Troy tried getting up. The full extent of all his injuries form the past days seemed to catch up with him. He could barley stand up.

"Are you okay? That looked like it hurt," She said grabbing his upper arm and pulling him off the ground.

"I'm fine, thanks," Troy said, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. His feet hurt; his finger hurt, and now he could see the blood coming through the dark denim on his jeans. His palms we know covered in small scratches and his chin had started to bleed.

"Are those skiing gloves in you back pocket?" Gabriella asked, pulling them out, "Why do you have these?"

"Well," Troy began, lifting his hands in frustration.

"Oh my god, Troy, what happened to your finger?" Gabriella squealed.

"I slammed it in a door," He said, "Twice," he said quietly as an afterthought.

The bus came and everyone loaded on.

"Troy," Chad sat right behind him, "How was your…dude, your finger…"

"It's _not_ a big deal. I just slammed it in a door and now it's a bit swollen."

"That's the understatement of the century, dude. Look at it! It's broken," Chad told him looking it over.

Troy made a double take, "It's what? …No. It can't be. It's just a little cut." Troy said, not even believing himself.

"Does this hurt?" Chad asked slightly moving the finger sideways.

Troy winced, "No," he lied. _That was painful, don't scream. Do not scream._

"Okay…" Chad said smiling, he knew his friend too long not to know when he was lying, "How about this?" He wrenched his finger upwards and Troy let out a scream.

Troy shoved Chad with his good hand. "What was that for?" He shouted, shaking his hand in pain.

"You said it didn't hurt," Chad said, smiling yet again.

"You knew I was lying!" Troy defended himself.

"Yeah, Troy's a bad liar. We all know that!" Taylor said sitting down next to Chad. "But, Gabriella, …your finger's broken," she told Troy.

"Yes, thank you," Troy said frustrated. "I'll go to the nurse when we get to school, okay?"

They all looked doubtful.

"What? I will!" Troy said looking at his friends. They all gave him the same look. "I will!" He repeated.

"We all know about your fear of the nurse, Troy," Taylor said.

"I'm not afraid of the nurse, guys," Troy said defending his last piece of dignity left. "She was going to make me take off my shirt!"

"You're a guy, Troy, that's no big deal," Chad said.

"Besides," Taylor said, "Miss Recker is really nice."

The bus pulled into the school's parking lot and everyone filed out.

"Zeke," Gabriella yelled to one of Troy and Chad's friends. Troy was hiding his hand inside of his jacket, "Can you help me?"

Zeke walked over, the strong, tall kid towered over both friends by a couple of inches. Both Chad and Troy were used to this. It didn't really intimidate anyone. They all know that Zeke wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Troy needs to go to the nurse," She said taking Troy by surprise who was about to dash away when Zeke seized his upper-arm. Troy started to try to shake him off but Zeke was just too strong.

Zeke dragged him to the nurse's office, Troy talking all the way.

"Please don't, Zeke. I'm begging you, as a friend, don't do this to me," Troy begged. "You know how much I hate the nurse!"

"Troy, I'm sorry," Zeke apologized, "But if you don't go you could seriously get hurt."

Troy was stalling as they neared the door, "Look, Sharpay's calling you!" He lied. Sharpay was looking in her compact next to her locker blowing herself kisses every now and then.

"Nice try, Troy," Zeke opened the door and shoved Troy inside. Troy tried to reopen the door but Zeke was standing in front of it.

Troy felt as if the walls were closing on him. He wanted to leave this prison. Now!

The nurse walked into the room.

"Why, hello, Troy," she said with a huge fake smile on her face, "I haven't seen you in awhile."

Troy knew she was thinking of the last visit. She had asked him to take his shirt off so she could see the cut on his chest from his locker door. Troy had opened his locker door and some kid shoved him forward and the corner stuck into his chest. Troy denied there was a cut on his chest like she claimed although it was bleeding right through his shirt. Finally, she got her hands around the bottom of his shirt and was about to lift it up when Troy dashed out of her grip, knocking her to the ground. He ran out of the office so fast that he thought he could reach Pluto in a matter of seconds. He ended up needing a couple of stitches. And going to the hospital did _not _brighten Troy's day.

"Yeah," Troy said, "I've been too busy, you know, not…getting hurt and stuff."

"Well," the nurse said, "What's the matter?"

"I don't know," Troy lied, "My friends wanted me to come here." For help on his logic he shrugged and pointed out to Zeke (with his good hand, he didn't want Miss Recker to see), who was still blocking the door, and said, "Ask him."

"I will." She walked briskly to the door.

_How can I get out of here? _Troy thought frantically looking around the room.

There was a small window. _Should I risk it? …Yes._

Troy grabbed onto the ledge but his finger was hurting so badly that he let go and fell to the ground. He got up and brushed himself off. He saw Zeke's shadowed figure walk away from the door and the nurse's figure turn. Troy quickly put his hand in his pocket, jamming his finger and he let out a scream.

The nurse rushed in.

"Are you all right?" She asked him. She looked worried. _Maybe she isn't so bad after all. I mean, she really cares…_Troy thought.

"No. I'm not," Troy told her. "I-uh-I think I-well- I think I broke my…"

He lifted his hand gently out of his pocket, wincing from the pain.

"Troy Bolton," Miss Recker scolded, "Why didn't you tell someone?"

"I…uh…I never thought about it," Troy answered. That was a lie but he felt that that was better than saying, "I'm afraid of you."

"Well," she said, gently grabbing Troy's wrist, "Let's take a look, shall we?"

Troy wondered, as the small, frail, little nurse carefully examined his finger, why he was ever afraid of. She was very kind and she cared about the kids. Besides, she was so much smaller than Troy that he felt as if he could pick her up and throw her like a basketball.

"Troy," Miss Recker said suddenly, pulling out a piece of paper and starting to write on it, "Go give this to the principal and I'll call your parents."

"My parents?" Troy asked, "Why would you call them?"

"I'm afraid you have to go to the hospital, Troy," she said calmly. A look of sheer horror came on Troy's face. "I'm sorry, Troy, but you need to go…"

"Please, no," Troy said, "Please, I don't want to go. You can't make me."

Troy started to back up towards the door. The nurse quickly answered, "Troy, _I_ can't makeyou do anything. But, there's a certain woman, who goes by the name Ellen Bolton…you know her? Hmm… I thought so, I think _she _can make you go." She picked up the phone and a small form was in her hand.

_I don't like her very much anymore, _Troy thought as she dialed the phone number. Troy grabbed onto the door handle and then immediately let go. The pain in his hand was growing.

"Mrs. Bolton, don't worry. Troy is going to be fine. …No, he isn't dying…no. I don't think so. …Yes, he is in a small amount of pain." _You think so, _Troy thought, "No…not mortal pain…his finger is just broken and he needs to get it fixed…ma'am, please, this is nothing to cry about…No, I don't know what it's like to be a mother…yes, I know he is your only son…it's not necessary to come down and sue the school. He broke his finger at home as I recall Troy's friend saying…yes, ma'am. Okay, bye."

"What happened?" Troy asked. "Is she all right?"

"She is in a _fair _amount of shock after discovering her _only _child didn't tell her he _broke his finger_. But, she's okay. She's coming down to the school."

"What! Why?" _Oh, God, I've got to hide! But where though? A locker? No I'm too big. A broom closet? Yes! I'll dress like a janitor and hide behind a mop. It worked last time!_ ,"Umm…Miss Becker, I have to…go."

"Oh, no you don't."

"Don't what?"

"Have to go."

"Yes, I really do!"

Mrs. Bolton started crying the second she saw her son.

"How could you do this to me?" She sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Mom," was all that Troy could say. He hated to see people cry.

Ellen Bolton buried her face in her son's chest. She only reached his chin but for such a tiny woman she was strong. She put her arms around Troy and hugged him until Troy thought he would turn blue.

Troy put his arms around her shaking body and said once again, "I'm sorry, Mom. I thought you'd…"

"Let's just…get to the…_hospital_," her voice cracked and she broke into another fit of sobs.

Troy hugged her and they both walked to the car in silence.

**a/n: There you go! I know you loved it. In chapter 3 you'll find out why Troy is afraid of hospitals, and that is really important in the story. Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Accidents Happen

**a/n: This is a CO-AUTHORED story. This is also a VERY important chapter so read it through!**

"Troy, honey, there's nothing to worry about," Ellen said as she drove with her hands clenched tightly on the wheel, her knuckles white.

"Mom, I'm fine," Troy falsely soothed his mother, finger throbbing. Truth was he wasn't scared…he was terrified.

"Troy," she said, "I know it's scary to come backing after you're…" She stopped, "Your _accident_." With this she threw her arms around him. Troy's hands flew to the wheel just as they were about to go into the next lane. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's-It's _all my fault_!" She said grabbing the wheel and sobbing again.

"Mom, it wasn't your fault. I was the one who crashed into the other…" Troy began.

"I shouldn't have let you drive. You only had your license for a couple of days. We were on Spring Break and the streets were _way _too packed. I shouldn't have let you go." She wiped her tears away with her hands.

Walking into the hospital was one of the worst things Troy had ever done. In the waiting room, Troy began to shake, luckily, his mother didn't notice. The walls seemed to close in on him and when the door shut it felt like he was never coming out…just like last time he came to this awful place.

It was warm it the waiting room and Troy was very tired. His eyes began to droop…

Troy and his parents were on Spring break in Oregon visiting their cousins. Troy never enjoyed these visits. His cousin, Daniel, always tried to get him in trouble. It was raining outside so Troy and Daniel were confined to play their basketball game indoors. Troy passed Daniel the basketball and his little cousin threw it at the antique lamp given to them by Troy and Daniel's grandfather. In other word's his father's father.

The family heard the crash and came into the room.

"Troy tried to throw the ball at me and I ducked and it hit the lamp!" Little Daniel screamed and started to fake cry. His mother rushed up to him and started to soothe her child.

"You little liar! That's not what…" Troy began.

"Troy, why would you do that to him?" Troy's aunt Carolyn screamed.

"You are grounded!" Mr. Bolton screamed.

"What? Why? I didn't do anything to the little rodent!" Troy screamed at his dad. Troy threw a furious look at his father, rushed to the door, and pulled his jean jacket off the hook. "I hate this family!" He grabbed the car keys out of his pocket and slammed the door behind him.

Troy rushed to the car because the rain was pounding down from the sky. He jumped in the Land Rover and sped off. He was driving fast. Very fast, so fast that he didn't notice the stoplight change from green...yellow…red. It all seemed a blur to him. Time seemed to slow down but his heart rate didn't.

The rain was pouring harder now, the road at its most slick when water and oil freshly mix. The distant sound of a car horn only went to the back of Troy's mind; it couldn't save him anymore. Nothing, not even a miracle, could stop what was speeding right up to him. His heart pounded in his ears, the only sounds he heard were the scream of wheels, the sound of metal crunching on metal, and glass shards hitting the hard pavement. Something was wrong, something was missing…

The thought raced through his mind.

_His seatbelt._

Suddenly, a life flashed by his eyes. What was this? This wasn't his life…it was someone else's. A picture came into his mind. It was of a happy Latino family: a father, mother, and daughter about his age. The picture suddenly ripped apart, and as it did, he heard a cry, the sobbing of a young girl. The picture reappeared, but it was somehow different, the father was gone. Only the mother and the daughter were there. Their faces smiled, but the happiness was lost in their eyes.

His mind went numb. The beating of his heart slowed down. His grip loosened on the steering wheel. The intensifying fears climaxed…he flew through the windshield and landed on the shoulder of the road. A sirens' wail floated through his mind. Then it was black.

"Hurry!" Troy faintly heard someone say.

He opened one blurry eye. After a couple of seconds everything came into view. Two men's faces were floating above his own and the ceiling was flashing by. He was being wheeled down the hall on a stretcher. Troy felt tired and weak. He slipped into a quiet slumber. The men above him thought that they were losing him.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Troy woke up in a very white room. _Huh? _Troy thought, _This isn't my room._

He pulled himself up onto his pillows with great pain.

"Ow," He moaned.

"You're _alive!_" Troy heard his mother scream and throw her arms around him.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Troy said while she tightly hugged him.

"I'm sorry," His mother sniffled, letting go of him.

"Honey, he's okay," Mr. Bolton said, standing up. He was sitting in the corner of his room waiting silently for Troy to wake.

"No, he's not, " Mrs. Bolton said, "He was in a _car crash_, Jack! A car crash!" Then she burst into a fit of tears.

"_Car crash?" _The thought raced through Troy's mind. Then he remember hearing the screech of wheels, the thud, the glass…

Troy shuddered.

"What happened to the person I hit? Is he okay?"

Both parent's said nothing.

Troy's eyes were full of tears. _What have I done?_

"It's okay, Troy. You didn't mean to, sweetie," his mother soothed.

"No, it's not, Mom! I just killed someone! I…just leave me alone," he said. Seeing the horrified look on his mother's face he added, "Just for a while."

Jack practically dragged his sobbing wife out of the room leaving a horrified Troy in his bed alone.

Outside the room though, his parent's were talking to the nurse.

"So the man died?" Mr. Bolton asked.

"We don't know yet, sir. It doesn't look good, but we're doing the best we can," She answered.

"Troy, sweetie, wake up!" Ellen Bolton said, shaking her son, "The doctor is here to see you." Troy had fallen fast asleep in the waiting room and had been moaning the entire time. She had shaken him to make him stop but he was too fast asleep. Hearing her only son moan tore her to shreds and she started to cry again.

"Doctor?" Troy asked, sitting straight up. He was in the hospital waiting room. _It was just a dream_.

"Come on."

They both walked into the doctor's office. Troy's finger got x-ray. His bone practically spilt in half. Troy got his finger wrapped in a red cast. And got a white marker. _If I can't make it to the game I might as well show my team spirit. _He thought glumly.

His mother and he left the hospital. Troy had a lollipop in his left hand.

"Why did they give me a lollipop?" Troy asked.

"It's the thought that counts," Ellen said absentmindedly.

Troy walked into the school with his head hung down. Guilt was flowing through his veins. He couldn't go to the game on Saturday. Everyone was counting on him. Everyone on the team, his friends, his dad. His dad…what was he going to say? He was going to be _mad._ No, mad wouldn't even begin to cover it. Not even furious. He'd be like a swirling tornado of anger just waiting to rip Troy's head off.

When they arrived at the front steps of the school Troy kissed his mother on the cheek and walked inside, putting on a huge fake grin and slipping his hand into his jacket.

He got his tardy slip from the office and walked to lunch.

"Troy!" Troy heard his name squealed through the cafeteria. He cringed. It was Sharpay. "Troy! You ready for the game on Friday?"

"Sharpay! Stop!" Troy whispered urgently.

"Wildcats! Get ready for the game! We're going to beat the North High Pirates this year with Troy leading us it's sure fire! I know it!" Sharpay screamed.

The North High Pirates were the only people who ever beat the East High Wildcats besides the Knights whom the Wildcats beat in the championships one time. Another player had shoved Troy down when he had made the three pointer and sprained his ankle. The kid got a penalty but Troy had to stay off his feet for the rest of the game and they got slaughtered 42 to 10 (the majority of their ten points made my Troy).

Sharpay stood on the table and started chanting, "Wildcats! Wildcats! Wildcats!" and soon the entire cafeteria had joined in.

Troy grabbed Sharpay's upper arm and dragged her into the hallway with difficulty. She didn't seem to want to leave the pep rally she started.

"What, Troy?" Sharpay said angrily.

"I'm not playing on Friday," Troy said through gritted teeth.

_"What!_" She screamed incredulously, "_Why not?"_

Troy pulled his hand out of his jacket, "A little hard to play with _this _thing on my hand!" He screamed.

"Why'd you get that?" Sharpay asked.

"Why do you think?"

"You like the color?"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Sharpay nodded, "No! I broke my finger you over-moussed show dog!" **a/n: credited to Chad**

"Well, good luck telling _them _that," she pointed to his friends. Then, she ran away as fast as her Prada high heels would carry her.

"Thanks, Sharpay. That was really great advice," Troy turned around to meet his fate, this would be worse than the hospital, well…almost.

**a/n: Please read and review. Constructive critiscim is wanted. Please say what you think we should do differently. Don't be too harsh. This is our first one. The second part, JUST thought up last night. Thanks, CoCoPixie134**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Man Am I in Trouble**

"Man, what happened to your finger?" Chad almost yelled.

_Oh no! I'm trapped, and I have to tell them the truth!_ "Well, you see…um…it all started when I was seven…oh, gosh…fine! I broke it!

"What?" the whole gang screamed in union.

"The big game is Friday!" Jason was clearly annoyed.

"No! It's not what you think. I can play in the game," his friends looked doubtful," a part of…cheering from the sidelines?" _And once again-It sounds like a question!_

Gabriella stepped in, "Hello! Troy is in pain. Is anyone going to say that they're sorry that he _broke_ his finger?"

Taylor and Kelsi agreed, but the guys were a bit slower. Basketball, after all was pretty much, well, everything. But, in the end, their good angels won the battle and they all said how sorry they were that Troy had broken his finger.

Zeke was the one to speak the thought on all the guys' minds, "Troy, we're sorry, but not sorry enough to get you off the hook of telling the school that we're going to loose the game."

"You are not going to loose the game, people!" Taylor hated how all the team revolved around Troy. "You are _all_ on the varsity team. There were _try-outs_…"

"Evaluations," Chad loved being smarter than Taylor in sports.

"Does it _look_ like I care, Chad? My point is, didn't all of you make it on the team? You did! You all have the same amount of talent! Troy isn't the only one on the team!"

_I elect you to tell the school that once they've found out I broke my finger! Stupid door!_

It was Friday night and Troy was going over to Gabriella's house. He was going to pick her up and bring her to the game. Just because he couldn't play didn't mean he was going to miss it.

Troy tapped on the door with his cast and after a couple of seconds Gabriella walked outside.

"You look great," Troy asked, putting his arm around her shoulder an ushering her to the car.

"How'd your dad take it?" Gabriella asked buckling her seat belt.

"Take what?" Troy said starting up the engine and backing out of the driveway.

"Your finger?" Gabriella said.

"Oh. That. Well, let's just say…bad. Horribly bad. _Very _horribly awfully bad."

They got to the school where they met Chad and Taylor at the front doors.

"You ready to win?" Troy said to Chad.

"Yeah, whatever," Chad said looking at his feet.

Troy mouthed, "What's wrong with _him_?" behind Chad's back to Taylor who waved here as to say, "I'll tell you later."

The game started and the Pirates got the tip off ball. Number 45 dashed down the court to score a basket in the first seconds of the game.

"Tay," Gabriella said after the long groan of the crowd because of the first basket of the game, "What's wrong with Chad?"

"He's well, in a, shall we say…_bad_ mood," Taylor said.

"Why?" Troy asked not taking his eyes off the game.

"He thinks you did it on purpose," Taylor half mumbled.

"Did _what _on purpose?" Troy asked staring right into Taylor's eyes. She could never lie to him. Troy found her weakness.

"Broke your finger," She said quietly to her shoes, "He thinks that you did it for, I don't know…attention or something." Taylor quickly scanned the crowd for no one in particular so she wouldn't have to look at Troy.

Gabriella let out an exasperated sigh, "You're kidding, right? _Attention_? Troy needs more _attention_? I think that that's the _last _thing he needs right now. I mean, it's not like he doesn't get attention at home with his mother crying over every scratch he gets and his father working him in basketball all the time where as my dad…" she stopped, "He doesn't need attention."

"_I _know that, Gabbi, but _Chad_ doesn't," Taylor cheered when the Wildcats stole the ball.

The entire game Troy never took his eyes off of Gabriella. What was she saying about her father? Her eyes were swelling with tears when she got up to go to the bathroom. He needed to figure out what was wrong. He cared about Gabriella too much to see her upset.

The Wildcats were once again killed in the game. As Troy drove Gabriella to her house in silence she sniffled and stared out the window.

"Gabbi, what's going on?" Troy said as he turned off the car in her driveway.

"What do you mean?" She said using the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.

"What's going on?" Troy said sternly, looking right into her tear filled eyes.

Gabriella quickly got out of the car and dashed for her front door. Troy quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and ran to her. He was much faster and reached her in a matter of seconds.

"Gabriella!" Troy said grabbing her upper arm.

"Let go of me!" She screamed through her sobs.

"What is going _on _with you?" Troy asked her gently.

Gabriella tried to pull away but Troy wouldn't let go. Finally she gave up hope and turned around burying her sobbing face into his chest. Troy put his arms around her shaking body.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella said between sobs, "It's just…things haven't been easy since my dad… passed away."

Troy pulled her into a tighter hug as she cried harder.

"He died in a car crash last year when we lived in Oregon. Some kid didn't see the stoplight changed and smashed right into my dad. …The poor kid was hurt really badly but he lived through it. I just wish… I wish things were back to normal…" She sobbed the hardest she had so far.

Troy's face, out of view of Gabriella's face, turned into a look of sheer terror as he realized what he had done.

_Man, am I in trouble._

When Troy got home he went straight to his room and plopped on the bed. He was lost in his many thoughts when he got off his bed.

He got on all fours and looked under the bed. He pulled out a photo album labeled "Troy Bolton". It was given to Troy by the hospital. They wanted him to look back and see how lucky he was to be alive. To Troy it was looking back and see how _un_lucky he was to have been in the terrible accident.

He told his mother to throw it away and she did but Troy's curiosity got the better of him and he brought it up to his room and hid it under his bed.

He opened the worn cover to the first page. It was a picture of the wreck. Both cars were crumpled and bent. The wreckage flashed in front of his face. Every bit of the accident swarmed into his mind. Troy slammed the book shut and threw it angrily onto the ground.

_How could I have been so stupid? _He thought.

Soon he was overcome by his exhaustion and feel asleep fully clothed and on top of the covers.

"Good morning," Jack said as he put a plate of pancakes on the table in front of his son, "You're mother had to go to the office. It's just you and me today. So, how'd you sleep?"

"Fine," Troy answered. Truth was, he didn't sleep well. He had flashes of the accident in his dreams and he couldn't get back to sleep.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and started on his pancakes. By the time he went outside he had eaten four helpings of pancakes. He hadn't had a decent meal in four days and he was starving.

Troy decided to go on a walk to get some exercise, or so he told his father. He walked out of his house, roughly shoving his hand into his pockets and kicking at the rocks on the ground.

He had to tell Gabriella. He couldn't just _not _tell her. Troy couldn't fit everything together. He had no evidence of it being Gabriella's father but all signs seemed to point to him. He remembered the Latino family before the crash and the silence when he asked his parents about the other man. They lived in Oregon; he was _in _Oregon. The _boy_ was badly hurt; _he _was badly hurt (and Troy happened to be a boy). He didn't know how he was going to tell her.

Gabriella's tears, her words, had stung him like ice. He didn't know what to do. If he told her she would hate him forever._ Understandably,_ Troy thought. But if he didn't he'd have a really guilty conscience. Troy could never live that way. He would have to come clean.

Troy was looking at the ground lost in his sad thoughts when he heard a loud car honk.

"Ah!" Troy screamed very loudly and jumped about a foot in the air. He put his hand over his heart that was thumping very quickly against his chest. Breathing heavily, he watched as the car window rolled down showing a laughing face.

"Bolton, you are _too _easy," said the face still laughing.

The face belonged to Michael Little. Troy had beaten him to be on the Varsity team the previous year.

"What'd you want, Michael?" Troy asked angrily.

"Oh, I was just coming to see your dad. Since you can't play I thought the team might need a little help. Not that you were any help in the beginning," Michael said with a laugh.

"Michael," Troy said, "Will you get _over it?_ I beat you fair and square."

"You only beat me because your dad's the coach!" He screamed. To Troy's bad luck he spit, hitting Troy right in the eye, and drove away laughing his head off.

"Funny," Troy said irritably, wiping the spit of off his face, "Very cute."

With that, Troy walked home mumbling the whole way.

Sunday passed in a depressed haze and Monday was there. Troy walked to school and arrived there fifteen minutes early. He had no desire to see Gabriella. He just wanted to get to school in peace. More exactly he wanted to get to school in one piece but he would never tell anyone that he was afraid of Gabriella.

Troy sat on the front steps of the school with his head in his hands. He had come to the conclusion that he had to tell Gabriella, he just didn't know how. He took out a pen and started to fiddle with it. Fiddling always helped him calm down. He sighed heavily and felt a thump on his back.

"Hey, Troy, you okay?" Ryan asked, while sitting down right next to Troy.

"Define 'okay'," Troy said glumly.

"Bad week?" Ryan asked, as though Troy's expression couldn't have been a plainer give-away.

"You have no idea," Troy said putting his head back in his hand and slamming his forehead into his cast, "Ow."

"What happened?" Ryan was worried about his friend. He had been shaking on Friday when he had to tell the team what happened and was ghostly white. Not many things had changed. It was a miracle Troy didn't drop the pen he was holding, he was shaking so badly.

"You don't want to know," Troy said shaking his head, "I don't want to bring my luck onto you."

"I really do. Maybe you're luck will get me a good grade on my history test today," Ryan said with a smile.

"There's a history test today?"

"So... uh…what happened?"

So with a huge sigh Troy told Ryan all about his week starting with the moment he woke up until then. He didn't expect to bring himself to tell _everything_ but Ryan looked so innocent sitting there. He was concentrating really hard on Troy (or that could've just been him phasing out…you never knew with Ryan.) and he tried not to laugh when Troy told him about his mother obsessiveness (**a/n: we know obsessiveness is not a word!)** over Troy and his injuries but he failed miserably as he burst out laughing.

"My god," Ryan said when Troy finished telling him his story.

"I know," Troy began but was cut off.

"You have _black _ski gloves?"

Troy rolled his yes as he watched buses pull into the school parking lot. He rushed inside and went straight to his locker. _Maybe I can melt into them before the first class_, Troy thought as he ran through the hall.

Throughout the entire first period Troy was dreading the end. It was one class closer to lunch, which was the first time he would see Gabriella that day. It was when he had to tell her.

Four classes later, Troy found himself biting his pencil watching the clock with hatred.

_Why can't you just slow down? Are you too good to do what people ask you to do or something? _But his thoughts were cut short when Troy bit down so hard on his pencil it spilt clear in half.

_Ding. Ding._

Troy gathered his books and walked over to his locker. The second he got there he opened the locker door and it smashed him in the nose.

"Ow," Troy grumbled, rubbing his nose.

He heard a laugh behind him. He knew that laugh.

"You okay, Troy?" Gabriella asked him.

Troy closed his eyes and turned around.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said.

"Did you think that the Science test was hard? I thought that question twelve was tricky but number three was simple I mean, who doesn't know that if you add three milligrams of liquid nitrogen to…"

"Gabriella, I think I killed your dad," Troy blurted out suddenly.

Gabriella did a double take.

"I think _I'm _the kid that hit your dad when you lived in Oregon," Troy said, his face burning.

"Troy, that's not funny. I know that I told you about…"

"No, I'm serious, Gabby. I was in Oregon on Spring Break last year. I hit a car and got in a horrible accident. I killed the man in the other car and I am _really _sorry, Gabby. _Really_ sorry."

"This has got to be a joke," Gabriella said. "Tell me this is a cruel, sick joke."

"I have the scars," Troy said, shaking back his sleeves and lifting his bangs to show all of the scars on his body for the accident.

"No, Troy, no…" Gabriella said in terror.

"Gabriella," Troy began, taking a step towards her.

"Troy," Gabriella said, taking a step away form him. "Troy, I need to think about this."

" "This"?" Troy gulped. "What do you mean "This"?"

"I mean _us_, Troy," Gabriella said wiping tears from her eyes. "I have to think about us."

And she ran down the hall as quickly as she could to get away from the one person she thought the she could never hate. Troy.


	5. Chapter 5

**As/n: Disclaimer: We don't own anything in this story but the plot. Sorry this disclaimer was put up so late.**

**Chapter 5: Crashes and Crushes**

Troy numbly went about his tasks as the weeks flew by. His mind was never on anything but Gabriella. He didn't even notice the death glares he got from his classmates. He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even care that they were going to take his cast off the next day.

With his mother, Troy was discussing the next day's events.

"Don't be worried when they take it off," Ellen said as she and Troy talked while eating dinner. It was spaghetti and meatballs, one of Troy's favorite meals. Yet, Troy wasn't even touching his food. He was spinning it around nonstop with his fork.

"Mmmhmmm," Troy said absentmindedly, twirling his spaghetti around his fork for the umpteenth time and watching it drop onto his plate with a dull look on his face.

"I'll be there if you need me," she said, taking no notice to the fact that her son wasn't even paying attention to a word she said.

"Actually," Troy said suddenly, breaking out of his trance, "I think I'm going to go…_alone_...this…time," He said slowing down as he saw his mother's face drop to a look of sheer horror.

"A-alone?" Mrs. Bolton asked, her voice trembling.

"Yeah. Um… I was thinking that…"

"You hate me," Mrs. Bolton interrupted suddenly. "I've figured it out. You hate me." She said with finality.

"Mom," Troy said, rising his voice over his mom's sobs. "I do _not _hate you! I just thought that I could go alone this time."

His mom stood up abruptly and ran out of the room sobbing.

_Well, that went great,_ Troy thought as he dumped his full plate into the trash and put it in the sink.

Troy walked out of the hospital the next morning (with two free hands), when his cell phone rang.

"Lo?" Troy said glumly.

"Hey, Troy," Taylor said.

"Taylor?" Troy asked. Why was she calling him? "What's up?"

"Look, Troy, I don't know if you noticed this but, Gabriella is really upset," She said quickly.

"Yes, Taylor. I've noticed," Troy said exasperated.

"Well, I just wanted to know what the heck you said to her to make her so upset," Taylor said.

Troy unraveled the entire story with difficulty. He was just too upset to talk and telling Taylor the reason was not a fun task to be set when he was feeling so horrible.

"Maybe it was just a coincidence," Taylor said slowly.

"I don't think so, Taylor," Troy said glumly. "Thanks anyway."

He hung up his cell phone and got in his car.

Troy got thinking about the first time he saw Gabriella. Watching her sing on stage, watching her mix chemicals with that adorable smart look on her face, it was all he ever wanted now. They always snuck glances at each other… it couldn't have been more obvious, Troy thought, looking back upon these events. Why didn't they see it before? _But now it was all crushed by the fact that stupid me had to go and kill her father! _

Driving towards his house, it dawned on him that maybe it was just a coincidence. He planned to ask his dad when he got home. Luckily, as he pulled in the driveway he saw his dad's car.

He walked into the house and found his dad sitting at his kitchen table, reading the paper.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Troy?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?" Mr. Bolton put down his paper and Troy sat down across from him.

"I was wondering...umm…about the accident…that I was in…could you tell me about it?"

His dad choked on his sandwich and stared at Troy.

"The um…the accident?' He asked his voice cracking.

"Yeah. I was umm… wondering….did someone…you know…die?" Troy asked.

_Man, this is awkward. _Troy thought staring directly at his father's face.

"Well, Troy… you see…well, um…"

"Dad," Troy said sternly. "Did someone die?"

"No, Troy. No one died but someone was badly injured. I- I thought I told you that," Mr. Bolton said.

"No. No, you didn't!" Troy screamed.

"Oh…oops," And Jack Bolton returned to his sandwich.

"Oh, God."

Troy ran out of the house as fast as he could. He didn't even have time to think about taking the car. He had to tell Gabriella and Troy had to get to her as fast as he could. Running was the only way he could get to her, so he did. He ran. He ran fast and long.

The wilted Bradford pear trees flashed by him in a blur as his feet pounded on the broken concrete of the sidewalk. His foot snagged a particularly deep crack, and he went tumbling. His wind was knocked out of him, but he struggled to his feet, wheezing and coughing. Shaking his head in an effort to clear it, he began to run again.

In front of him in the way was an elderly lady walking a cat. Oh…he didn't care right now. Nothing mattered but going to talk to Gabriella. He didn't care that blood was dripping down his face, he didn't care that he had stepped on tehcat's tail, which yowled at him and scratched him in the leg. He didn't care that the little old lady had to dive out of his way. Nothing mattered…nothing mattered. Nothing mattered. Nothing mattered right now. He had accidentally hurt his girlfriend by accidentally thinking that he had accidentally killed her father. Nothing mattered but fixing that right now.

He never noticed that he was crossing the street. The only awareness of his surroundings that he had was the pavement abruptly smoothed out. The sun had made the winter day unusually warm, even for an Albuquerque winter. A brisk breeze blew down the street, doing nothing to cool him. Blood and sweat mixed on his face, stinging his eyes. He noticed nothing, nothing.

Nothing until he saw the headlights and heard the blare of the horn. Nothing until what felt like a bulldozer crashed into his side. Nothing until he heard screaming, nothing until he felt pain searing down his spine. Nothing, nothing until that.

And Troy Bolton felt nothing more.

A little girl walked out of her house to play with her Barbie in her front yard. Then she heard something, a cell phone dialing and then, "Gabby, it's Taylor. There's something you should know. I think Troy's…," the voice cracked, "I think he's in trouble."

The little girl ran inside, dropping her Barbie on the way, "Mommy, there's a dead boy in the street."

**As/n: Don't kill us. There's more. Part two comes after the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**As/n: Okay! Here's the last chapter in part one. You can expect to see part two sometime soon-ish. About that cliff-hanger…sorry.**

**Chapter 6: "Gabriella…"**

In the stark white waiting room, Gabriella sat with her head in her hands. Finally, Taylor walked up to her, her face empty of expression. Chad was behind her, shaking and scared.

Gabriella followed her. As they walked down the hall, Gabriella expected to turn at the E.R. but they kept walking straight towards the Intensive Care Unit.

"He's _here?_" Gabriella cried, a single tear running down her cheek. Taylor rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder while Chad stood stony-faced in the corner of the elevator.

Waiting to enter the unit that held the boy who changed her life, the boy who changed _everything_, Gabriella started to cry silently. Taylor gave her a gentle hug and said, "It's going to be okay, Gabriella."

Chad let out a dry, mangled sob. Gabriella remembered when Chad was angry at his friend and how he had never gotten to say sorry.

She turned to him, wiping her tear-streaked face. "I'm sorry, Chad."

Chad said nothing. He stared ahead, a blank expression on his face. His eyes sat blank against his panic-stricken face and his head shook as he watched the young nurse walk down the hall. He sat down, head in his hands, and didn't look up.

"Hi, I'm Nurse Felicia," She said in a cheery tone, with a huge fake grin spread across her face.

"Ma'am, could you please tell us what is going on in Troy Bolton's room?" Taylor asked urgently.

"Oh, Tray Billton. Sweet kid. I read about him in the newspaper," Nurse Felicia said happily. "He was the one who saved that dog from drowning in the stream downtown."

"What?" Taylor asked.

"We're talking about the boy who's in that room over there," Gabriella said, angrily.

"Oh. You mean the half-dead one?" The nurse asked, confused, dropping her happy disposition.

Gabriella's stomach lurched at those words. _Half-dead?_ Chad let out another sob and buried his head further into his hands.

"You're new at this, aren't you?" Taylor asked.

"How'd you know?" Felicia asked.

"Just a guess."

'Look," Gabriella said so loudly Chad looked up. "I need to see him_ now _and if you don't let me see him…"

"I can't do that, ma'am. I'm sorry. Only relatives allowed." She had put her extremely happy voice back on.

"Look, Sunshine Barbie, let the girl in!" Chad screamed at the nurse.

"Oh, shoot," Taylor said. "His parents!"

Taylor rushed off to go call Mr. and Mrs. Bolton.

"Please, ma'am. I need to go in. I'm his girlfriend, Gabriella Montez…"

"Gabriella, did you say? Well, go in. He's been calling for you for a while now," The nurse said, opening the door and allowing Gabriella to walk in.

When Gabriella walked in she started to cry all over again.

Troy was lying in the hospital bed, connected to numerous machines. The once handsome face was covered in cuts and bruises. His ragged breathing filled the room along with the drones and beeps from the machines. Gabriella paid particular attention to one machine, the machine keeping track of Troy's heart rate.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Gabriella slowly walked to the bed and looked upon the face of the boy who stole her heart. A film of tears welled in her eyes as she brushed back the bangs Troy could never keep away from his eyes.

"Troy…oh, Troy! I'm sorry. I'm here. _Please_, please talk to me, Troy. Please," Gabriella sobbed.

"Gabriella..." Troy moaned.

"Troy…" She grabbed his mangled hand.

Troy sank into the pillows. Gabriella leaned over the half-conscious body and buried her face into Troy's chest. "Please, Troy, please." She sobbed.

_Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeep._


	7. Chapter 7

PART II 

**Chapter 1: As the Sun Comes Up**

**As/n: We're sorry if you feel that this story was plot less. We welcome constructive criticism but not flames or hurtful and unnecessary comments. This is our first fanfiction and we would appreciate if you would try to help us with our writing instead of hurting it.**

Some people say when the sun comes up, it's the start of a new day. Gabriella Montez felt, as she watched the sun go down that her life was ending. The sun was setting outside the window as Troy Bolton lay helplessly in the hospital, life resting on a thin line.

Gabriella sat quietly, her heart breaking inside. She thought about how all of this was her fault. She had been the one that ran away from him, making him miserable, and making him think that everything was his fault…

The rush of the doctors around her was the only thing that brought Gabriella back to reality. Watching in horror, Gabriella backed up out of the unit and ran blindly away from it. Her heart racing, Gabriella flew towards the exit and bumped into someone unexpected.

Chad.

"Hey, Gabriella. What's up?" He asked, smiling. He thought that Troy wasn't dead. Troy was his best friend, and he was always there when he needed him. Troy would never let him down.

Gabriella, though, knew otherwise. The boy, who she had always counted on, who never kept her waiting, was dead. She felt she never returned what he did, and she never again could try to return the favor.

"What's- Gabriella, are you okay?" Chad looked at her worried face.

"Chad, Troy… Troy's…"

"No," Chad said, the truth hitting him. "He's not dead. Gabriella, he can't be dead."

Both friends sat in silence as the reality of everything set in on them. Troy was gone.

Chad started pacing the floor, mind completely numb. Nothing hits you harder than having to admit it. That your worst fear was true, Troy was never coming back.

Minutes passed as hours. Time seemed to melt away as Gabriella and Chad sat, staring, the white walls becoming a tired scene to them.

They almost jumped as they heard Taylor's footsteps coming toward them. She looked oddly happy, with a wide smile on her face, a cheerful gleam dancing in her eyes.

"What are you so happy about?" Chad barked at her.

"Chad, let her talk," Gabriella said to Chad.

"Guys, you can come see Troy now," Taylor said happily.

"No, Taylor. It's just… it's too hard," Gabriella said,

"No, Gabi, he's fine. They saved him," Taylor said. "He's just… in a coma," she mumbled.

"He's what?" Chad asked.

"Just come and see him," Taylor begged.

But Gabriella was way ahead of them.

Running full speed through the halls, Gabriella reached the ICU and pulled open the door.

Troy was lying in his bed, his ragged breathing filling the room. As she sat down again, she watched the sun rising through the window. It looked a lot different now then it did when it set, just a few hours ago, the light reflecting on a new scene. Troy was alive, and Gabriella made the first smile she had in a long time.

This wasn't the happiest scene Gabriella could imagine, but Troy was alive and that was all Gabriella needed to break out of the darkness of despair and step into the bright light of hope.

Grabbing his hand, Gabriella felt the warm rays of the sun fall on her face, her rays of hope.

**As/n: There you go. Troy isn't dead. Aren't you happy? Oh, and please remember to review but also take into consideration what we said earlier.**


	8. Chapter 8

Rest and Repentance

**As/n: Hey, faithful readers! The title, just so you know, is designed like Pride and Prejudice. Tell us how you think we did, please. Now, enough of our boring rant…on with the show!**

"Miss, I'm sorry, but we have to run some tests on Mr. Bolton now, and I must ask you to please step out for a moment," Gabriella was startled by the doctor's voice.

She quickly answered, "Oh, of course…" Gabriella looked outside, "What time is it?"

"I believe that it is just past 8 PM."

Gabriella nodded absentmindedly, and then she did a double take.

If the doctor had been watching, he would have seen a teenage girl looking around insanely with her hands on her head.

She walked outside the room and saw the Mr. Bolton was sitting out there alone.

"Did Mrs. Bolton go home for some dinner?" she asked politely.

"I'm missing my soap opera for this," he muttered and looked around him, "Oh, Miss Montez, I didn't see you there. What?"

Gabriella didn't even raise an eyebrow on the outside, but she was laughing hysterically on the inside. "Call me Gabriella. Where is Mrs. Bolton?"

"I remember something about a banana in hideous pajamas, a blue dog, and could it be possible that a giant yellow bird flew through the room?" he asked.

"Uh, wow, Mr. Bolton. I think you were thinking of the TV shows playing on the TV. Maybe you should go home," Gabriella felt like a psychiatrist, "Maybe I should get Mrs. Bolton to drive you."

"Whoa, no! I don't think they'll let her out of the shrink's office until she stops screaming and crying. Thank God they got her out of here, she was starting to give me a migraine," Mr. Bolton explained, rather like a child, Gabriella thought.

Just then, Mrs. Bolton, escorted by a rather bored-looking man, stumbled into the room, "Thank you, Mr. Harvey, you've made me feel much better," she sobbed, "about…Troy…and his…situation."

"It's _Dr. Bartlet_, ma'am," the man corrected smugly.

Gabriella interrupted, "Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, why don't I just call you a taxi? I'm sure that if…" she was choking back tears now, "Troy…was…um…," at this point she just couldn't keep them back much longer, "what…Troy…would've wanted if he was…" now, she let them come, "conscious." She ran down the hall, but tripped and sat down on the ground with her head on her knees and cried.

Mrs. Bolton, though thoroughly hysterical, ran over to her and sat down next to her. She put her hand on Gabriella's shuddering shoulder and wiped a tear from her cheek. Mrs. Bolton tucked her curly, brown hair behind her ears, but all the while said nothing. For a while, they just sat there, overwhelmed in pain, but somehow lightened by each other. Then Mrs. Bolton spoke, "Gabriella, I know this is hard because of your father. I think you should know that…"

"Nothing bad was ever supposed to happen! I was nice to all the people that made fun of me! I forgave them! I never complained when we had to move again. He was angry at me when he was in the accident! He tried to apologize, but he went into a coma before he could ever say anything! I never got to apologize to him. Once was too much! Why did it happen twice?"

Mrs. Bolton calmly waited, feeling very sorry that this girl had gone through everything that she had. "I could ask the same question," she said quietly.

Gabriella looked at the woman; she had never noticed how weak she seemed. This was the first time she had ever really seen the pain in another since her father died. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Bolton. I'll call you a taxi," she said getting up.

The doctor came out while Gabriella was talking to the taxi company, and let Mr. and Mrs. Bolton in. Because visiting hours were over, Gabriella couldn't go back in herself. She waited for the taxi outside the hospital.

It was dark and dreary and after a few minutes it started to drizzle out raindrops. Inspired, Gabriella started to cry silently. Only her eyes saw Troy's parents leave, only her ears heard her cell phone ring, only her skin felt the rain as it started to pour, only her nose smelled the popcorn being brought out by a little girl with a small doll, only her tongue felt the salt of her tears as she licked her chapped lips. She got up and walked home, seeing everything, but feeling nothing.

When she went in the front door, her mother ran over to her with a think blanket and gave her hot tea. She guided Gabriella over to the sofa and turned on her favorite movie, You've Got Mail. Within minutes, Gabriella was asleep.

The next day, Gabriella was feeling numb in her mind and stiff in her muscles. To make it better, she had a physical education test first period. When she was walking instead of jogging, her teacher pulled her over.

"Gabriella, the point of a jogging warm-up is to _run_ to _warm-up_. You're going to be stiff as a board for when you have to climb the rope in the endurance course," she chided.

She had failed again. Gabriella was starting to break again, the bandage of rest wearing off from the night before. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she tried to blink them back, but when she talked it sounded like she was gulping. "He was…it was…why did…how could I…what was I…he's dead…and he's going to be…" she put her head down and let go, "dead," she whispered. "And it's all my fault!" she screamed.

The teacher called a closely watching Kelsi over and told her to get Gabriella some water and bring her back.

"Gabriella, what happened?"

"Real repentance, Kelsi," Gabriella answered.

"Gabby, it really wasn't your fault. Whoever that crazed driver was…" she didn't finish the sentence. She knew that the driver of the car had speeded away without getting out. Gabriella was silent now. "Gabriella, sit."

Kelsi went to the nurse and got a cool towel for her "headache" because she didn't want Gabriella to have to face the nurse right then. She got a bottle of water from the vending machine and walked back to where she had left Gabriella. As she approached, she didn't see Gabriella. "Gabriella, uh, where are you?"

No one answered at first, but then she heard a small voice call, "I just moved over here so no one would stop and stare a tear-stained girl."

Kelsi breathed her relief, "Ok, let's go back to the gym."

Gabriella sat on the bleachers while Kelsi finished warming up and went to the other gym for the endurance course. She didn't think, however, about Troy for once. She thought about her father.

_They were on spring break in Oregon and Gabriella was shouting at her dad, "Why can't I ever do anything? I have my license now so I should be able to go out to the mall by myself."_

_Her dad yelled back, "Gabriella, you don't understand. It's dangerous to drive when it's wet, and we were going to have dinner as a family tonight!"_

_"Ugh! I hate you!" she ran down the hall to her room._

_"I'm going out for a drive," he said to his wife who had just come into the room. _

"_Be careful, wet isn't just dangerous for a teenager," she called after him._

Her flashback stopped immediately. She couldn't think about that now, not now. She knew what happened next, the stoplight, Troy, her dad, and two cars.

The bell rang just as the last person came out of the course.

"Montez, this afternoon," her teacher called after her.

Everyone changed out of their gym uniforms in a hurry and ran to their next class. Gabriella walked a bit more slowly to her next class, chemistry. She had a test that she didn't study for or understand, and her teacher was giving back another test.

She walked into the lab and saw her test laying facedown on her lab table. Quickly, she turned it over to see the grade, but all she saw was the teacher's note:

_See me after class so we can discuss this._

Gabriella paged through the test, seeing every 'x' on the page. One the last page, her grade was written:

_32 **F**_

Taylor walked into the classroom and sat down next to Gabriella, her lab partner. Seeing the grade she inconspicuously shook her head and put it on her hand.

After the class, Gabriella went to see the teacher who had been eyeing her the whole class.

"How was the test, Gabriella?" the man asked bluntly.

"Mr. McGregor, if you're going to yell at me could you wait until tomorrow, please? And also if you're just going to make me feel disappointed. After Troy dies, and I know that I did it again, you can yell at me all you want to. I'm sorry, but I have to go," Gabriella hadn't noticed that her talking had grown to shouting over the course of her conversation, and now the whole class was looking over and snickering under their breath.

Taylor was waiting outside the classroom for Gabriella. She was so amazed that Gabriella could be so unfocused.

"Gabriella!"

Gabriella turned around and walked back over to Taylor.

"What is going on? You aren't even trying to get through this anymore! Why aren't you focusing?" she yelled.

"Because I've seen it before, Taylor! Everything, it's all happened before, and I know how it ends! I never got to apologize, he never got to say what he wanted to say! It's what happened to my dad! He was in a coma before he died. The last thing he ever said was my name because he was trying to tell me something! The last thing Troy said was my name…because he wanted to tell me something!" she screamed.

"Gabriella, yes it happened, but you have to get over it. Plus, I don't think Troy's going to die. Gabriella, you have to move on!" Taylor was letting all of her emotion out now.

Gabriella turned to face Taylor, "Why? Why did you do it? It was you! You hit Troy in the car! Oh, I can see it all now! You were the one who saw the whole thing! Gabriella, we have a problem! How could you when you knew I loved him? Was it because you loved him too and if you couldn't have him you would just take him away from me?" Gabriella ran. She ran out of the school, she couldn't take it anymore. She ran for miles. When she stopped running she found herself, not at home, but at the hospital.

Gabriella quietly walked into the huge room. She looked at Troy and tip-toed over to him. Once at his side, she sat down and silently vowed to never leave his side. Then, she put her head on the side of the bed and cried herself to sleep.

"_Gabriella, come in and say goodbye to your father," her mother told her. Her tear-streaked face shining in the light._

"_What? Why goodbye?" she asked, wanting to know the truth that no one would tell her, "Why do I have to say goodbye?"_

"_Because he is going into a coma, and then they say he'll die," her mother whispered._

_Gabriella ran into the ICU. Seeing her dad, she ran over. "Dad! Don't die, you can't leave me! I'm…"_

"_Gabriella…"_

_Beep…beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_.

After school, Ryan walked over to the hospital to see Troy.

"Gabriella, are you awake?" he asked when he got there, feeling so guilty.

"Yeah, I'm going home."

Ryan sat in the seat where Gabriella had been sitting, and started to talk to Troy, but first he had to confess.

**As/n: Hope you enjoyed it! We know Ryan came in a little late, but he didn't have any classes with Gabriella. Please review! No flames allowed.**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing but the plot. (You know, we don't want anyone thinking that we are the writers of High school Musical! That would be cool though, _really _cool!)**


	9. Chapter 9 SC1

What Have I Done

Subchapter I

**As/n: Thank you for reviewing the last chapter! We're sorry that it got bumped off the first page so quickly. This chapter is in two parts, so the next subchapter will start roughly the same time as this subchapter.**

**2:07 PM**

Taylor turned over one last time before she turned on her lights. She hated being in a fight with Gabriella because no matter what the truth was, Gabriella's strong accusations stuck like a magnet. Taylor had been able to handle this well enough before, but when she knew that what Gabriella said was because of hysterics, she couldn't handle it.

Taylor pulled out her laptop and opened her email. There was one new message, but it was on the second page, and she didn't feel like reading it then. Instead, she started a new email to Gabriella.

**2:15 PM**

Gabriella was lying on the sofa by her bed reading. She couldn't sleep because a new wave of pain was washing over her from seeing Troy that afternoon. Also, her mom had called a shrink and scheduled an appointment for Gabriella.

She decided to go over to her computer and check her email, even though she knew that nothing important would have come since she last checked it at 10:00. But she did see a new email. When she read the name, she automatically put the cursor on the delete button, but then her eyes slipped over the subject line.

**Taylor: Please read this before you delete it: 2:12 PM**

She opened it, mostly out of curiosity.

_Gabriella-_

_I know that you're mad at me and you probably are only reading this to see if I'm confessing or something. (Don't close it yet!) Meet me at the mall after school today, please! I understand if you don't want to go, but I'm going to drag you there anyway. I know you don't want to hear this, but here it is anyway: You are just making your mental and physical condition worse by spending hour after hour in the hospital. Please, you have to listen to me._

_Taylor_

_Chemistry Club President_

_Extension Number: 23100_

By the time she finished the email, Gabriella was in tears…_What have I done?_

She emailed Taylor back to say that she would be there, and then she cried herself to sleep.

**East High 7:45 AM**

Taylor was waiting for Gabriella when she arrived at school. As soon as the car pulled up, she ran over to her friend. She was expecting, once again, a feeble-looking, teary-eyed Gabriella, but what she saw was very different. Gabriella's cheeks were pink instead of her eyes, her hair pulled back in a loose, but neat, bun, and her clothing was not black, but blue.

"Wow! You look so much better than you did yesterday," Taylor complimented.

Gabriella's smile brightened, "I feel a lot better, too," they started walking. "I realized when I read your email how much damage I've been doing to myself. And that's why I'm going to go visit my dad."

Taylor's smile lessened, "Gabby, your dad is…you know…the whole thing with Troy…"

Gabriella laughed, "No, silly! I'm going home to visit his grave…to where I was born. I just need to think with him…just one more time."

Taylor nodded. Although she didn't really understand it, she understood that this was something that her friend needed to do.

The day passed quickly after that, and soon Taylor and Gabriella were at the mall.

"Are you going to see Troy tonight?" Taylor asked as she looked through the clearance skirts.

"Just before I leave for the airport tomorrow," Gabriella replied, looking at a new pair of heeled ballet flats because her old ones were getting too small.

Taylor looked up from the skirt she was inspecting, "Really? I thought for sure you would go tonight."

"Yeah. But it just makes me so sad, and it's not like I can talk to him or anything."

They ended up buying a skirt, a pair of heeled ballet flats, and two CDs total. Afterwards, they went back to the Montezs' house and watched a movie while doing their homework.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Gabby," Taylor called as she went out the door.

Gabriella went up to her room and packed for her weekend trip to Oregon. She was staying at her aunt's house, but only her aunt and her cousin were going to be there.

**7:05 AM**

Beep…beep…beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Gabriella woke with a start. _HELP! Troy's dying! What? Where am I? Oh, my alarm-clock, my bed, my room. _Breathing a sigh of relief, Gabriella got out of bed and dressed for school. Grabbing her carry-on and her backpack, she went downstairs for breakfast.

"Bye, Mom!" Gabriella shouted as she left for school.

"Wait!" she heard her mother cry. "Try to have fun…see some of your friends that you left behind."

Gabriella's eyes welled with tears, "Mom, you know I'm going to see a friend…I'm going to see Dad."

Her mother hugged her tight, "You're a good girl, Gabby, and I'm so proud of you. I just want you to know that," they waved goodbye, and Gabriella headed off to East High.

"Gabriella!" Chad yelled from behind her.

"Okay, I know this is hard for you, but you need to, you know, move on. You can't let this…"

"You should talk to your girlfriend more often, Chad, really," Gabriella laughed. "Is Mr. Bolton back today?"

Chad shrugged.

_Okay then._

The day passed quickly, and Gabriella was permitted to leave early because her flight was at 5:00, and she had to get through security.

She had called a taxi service at lunch, and it was there by the time she had signed out. It dropped her off at the hospital and waited while she said goodbye to Troy. When she walked in, she couldn't see anything other than the same boy she had said goodbye to two days ago.

"Hey, Troy. I miss you…a lot. I'm going to see my dad at his grave…so, I guess this is goodbye…for now of course!" Gabriella looked down at the unconscious face, and her heart broke again. What had she done?

When she came back out, she got in the taxi and they drove to the airport.

"You got a friend in that hospital?" the taxi-driver asked.

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, my boyfriend."

"You going away from this?"

"No, I'm going back to a past tragedy. One that will never have a chance to live again," she dully answered.

The driver looked up, "Someone die?"

She nodded again, "My father."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Gabriella kept asking herself: What have I done?

**9:00 PM**

Gabriella walked from her aunt's house to the cemetery where her father was buried. She never liked to drive into this place because it made her feel like she was at the funeral again thinking: What have I done?

She approached the hill where the headstone was. It sat under a small cherry tree that had been beautiful in the springtime when they buried her father.

_David Mathew Montez_

_Loving Husband, caring father_

_Right to the end_

_December 15, 1959-_

_April 16, 2005_

"Dad, what do I do?" Gabriella sat down and thought, crying every now and then.

She fell asleep by her father's grave that night. Somehow, when she woke up, she felt as if some of her burden had been lifted. She spent the day talking to her father, telling him all about her life. She asked him: Dad, tell me, what have I done?

**As/n: Okay. The next subchapter will be up soon. We hope you liked this one, but we want to hear what _you_ think so…please review!**


	10. Chapter 9 SC2

Chapter 9 SC2

**As/n: This begins right after chapter 8 ends. One might say, as SC1 is going on. Read, enjoy, review. (Please no flames)**

**Recap: Gabriella leaves the hospital as Ryan comes into the ICU.**

**Flashback**

_"Ryan, get out of my room!!" Sharpay shouted._

_Ryan knew he should stand up to his little sister, but instead he said, "Sorry, Sharpay, I…didn't realize I was walking into your room. I was reading this letter from Mom."_

_Sharpay scrambled over to Ryan and snatched the letter from his hands, "Why didn't you tell me, Ryan? Ugh!"_

_The letter read:_

_Dear children,_

_My show is going so well that they decided to extend the tour. I will return in a year._

_Your mother,_

_Lucie Estelle Evans_

_Sharpay ripped the letter to shreds and threw it up in the air. "Another year! She's already been gone two years. Ryan, just…what did you say to her? What did you tell Dad to say to her? Huh? Why couldn't you just have let her… get away from me!"_

_"I didn't say anything to her, Sharpay! She's an actress, that's what she does! I don't think it's right that you're blaming me… you're just taking your anger out on me… and it doesn't work like that! At least, not anymore it doesn't."_

_Ryan stormed out of the house and got into his car. He drove around for fifteen minutes without knowing where he was going. He didn't look, he didn't pay attention, he didn't care. Then, his car stopped abruptly. It must have been a tree branch; I'll just go around the other way._

_…Mommy, there's a dead boy in the street._

Ryan stared at the blank expression on Troy's face. He looked and he looked, but he couldn't see a thing. In his head, he made excuses, reasons, apologies, offerings of peace, but he couldn't begin to imagine just how much it was going to take to relieve his mind.

_"Ryan!"_

_Ryan stumbled into the house, his mind numb, "What?" he screamed back._

_"Where have you been? Mother's gone for another year, and you're out tiptoeing through the tulips when I need someone to talk to!" Shapay screamed._

_"Go see a shrink," Ryan mumbled._

_"What?"_

_"Go see a shrink if you want to talk to somebody!" Ryan shouted._

As Ryan snapped out of his memories, a doctor walked into the room. He nodded to Ryan and walked over to another patient. After doing some things over there, he came across the room to Ryan and Troy.

"Mr. uh…"

"Evans, Ryan Evans."

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Evans, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to step out of the room while I run some tests on another patient," the doctor replied.

"Oh, sure," Ryan stood up and walked out to the lobby. After being in the dark ICU, the shrill light of the lobby was blinding. Blinking, Ryan sat down at a chair, dodging a sprinting nurse.

Suddenly, the nurse at a nearby desk looked up from the magazine she was looking at, "Well, hi there! I'm Nurse Felicia, and who, may I ask, are you?"

"Uh…Ryan Evans," Ryan replied. _Oh no! This is the nurse that Chad and Taylor were ranting about right after Troy went into the hospital._

"Ryan…hmm," she seemed to mull it over in her mind, "Evans…hmm," she looked down at the magazine and suddenly looked back up, "Lucie Evans! The actress! Do you know her? Oh, this is so exciting!"

Ryan looked over at Nurse Felicia, "Can I see that magazine?"

"Ah, a long-lost cousin that sounds familiar but you have to see to remember! This is so exciting! Uh…can you…possibly…please…maybe…get me her…autograph?"

Ryan turned away and mumbled back, "Uh, I don't see her very often."

"Oh, okay. Here's my number."

Ryan looked at the folded piece of paper then back at the nurse, a confused expression on his face. Was this woman asking him out?

"Call me the next time she's in town. Also, you can go back in."

"Oh, I think I'm going to go home. I'll just come back in a few hours."

**3 Hours Later:**

"You can go in."

Ryan nodded and pushed open the door to the ICU. Once again he walked over to where Troy was. However, Troy wasn't there, at least he wasn't in sight. There was a white sheet over the body lying in Troy's hospital bed.

"Troy! No! How could this have happened? You were fine a few hours ago!" Ryan fell into a fit of tears.

Accidentally, Ryan brushed against the sheet covering his lifeless friend. He screamed when he saw an unfamiliar face staring back at him.

"You know him? Harsh fire…really," a nurse said to him.

"Oh, no, where's Troy? Uh, Troy Bolton," Ryan stammered.

The nurse couldn't help but smile, "I guess that's what made you scream. No, Troy was moved a few hours ago to a single room because he's in stable condition. Room number 234 I think."

"Thank you!" Ryan dashed out of the room to the elevator.

As he peeped into the doorway, Ryan spoke loudly, "Troy!" entering the room he continued, "You have no idea how…"

Troy rolled over and mumbled.

"I swear, I didn't mean to, I swear!" Ryan screamed. He ran out of the room screaming.

Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, Jason, and Zeke were coming to see Troy when they heard someone screaming. "It's Ryan," Kelsi gasped.

When they heard him they all stopped dead in their tracks, everyone except one, Chad was already running to the stairs.

**As/n: Yes, another cliffhanger. But, it will be the last one because chapter 10 is the last chapter of this story. Below is the mini-trailer.**

**They lived two different lives…**

**But shared a broken past…**

Gabriella sits in front of a grave. Troy is lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

**Tragedy was something they knew…**

Gabriella is crying. Troy is watching hopelessly as Gabriella walks away.

**They just never knew how much it would change their lives…years after it had happened.**

Screech of wheels, sound of metal on metal

**Now, she'll do anything…just to see him again.**

Gabriella is sitting in an airport, head in her hands.

**And he…is waking up from a nightmare no one should experience.**

Troy stirs in his coma.

**But these are the times…to remember when things get hard.**

Troy and Gabriella kiss.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: These are the Times to Remember when Things get Hard. 

Everyone has bad days, there's no point in denying it. Some people step in gum, some people break up with their boyfriends, some people realize that they have a huge zit on their nose. But our problem… was much, much bigger.

Gabriella sat in the airport, her plane being delayed four hours because of bad weather. She just shrugged it off. No rush to get home, really. She got a coffee and a Snickers bar and sat on a bench next to the Cinnabon stand.

Gabriella slipped her backpack off and placed it on the floor. She pulled out _A Christmas Carol _By Charles Dickens and started to read. Smiling as she read the part when Scrooge changed his ways, her cell phone rang. Gabriella fished out the phone just before it stopped ringing.

"Hello?"

"Gabi, it's Taylor," Taylor said urgently.

"Oh, hey, Taylor, what's up?" Gabriella replied nonchalantly, taking a bite out of her Snickers.

"Look, something happened at the hospital. When are you going to be home?" Taylor said, her voice shaking slightly. You could tell she was trying very hard to steady her voice.

Gabriella almost spit out her coffee. "What do you mean 'a problem'?" Gabriella asked loudly.

"Gabi, calm down. It's no big deal… just a little… complication," Taylor said.

"'Complication?'" Gabriella screamed. "What kind of 'complication'?"

"Well, Troy just…" Taylor stopped. She didn't want Gabriella's hope to get up. She just wanted Gabriella there in case of the slight chance Troy woke up. "He needs you, Gabi. Get home as quickly as you can." And she hung up.

Gabriella's face contorted into dread as she heard the dial tone. She lowered the phone from her face and turned it off. She looked around. Gabriella hadn't even noticed that she had stood up and walked away from her seat on the bench.

Turning around she saw her coffee, her half-eaten Snickers, and her Charles Dickens book but her backpack had gone missing. Someone had stolen her backpack when she turned around. She had two shirts, a skirt, a pair of muddy jeans, and her Algebra homework in there. But most importantly, hidden in the pocket of the jeans was a picture of she and Troy, smiling and joking around after his basketball game. On her trip it was her most prized possession and now it was gone. MIA… missing in action… whatever you called it, it was gone and never to be seen again.

But Gabriella had a bigger problem. She was stuck at the airport in Oregon when her boyfriend was in a coma in New Mexico… and he needed her.

She rushed up to an attendant.

"Excuse me," Gabriella said. "Please tell me that the flight to Albuquerque is starting soon."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," The woman said. "But the flight is going to take longer than we thought. The weather here is getting worse and the weather in Albuquerque is even worse than it is here."

Gabriella stopped dead in her tracks. "So-so it's going to take _longer _to get to New Mexico?" Her voice cracked. She hadn't even noticed that she was crying. But the second she did, the tears threatened to pour harder now. "Look, ma'am," Gabriella said, trying to keep her voice steady but doing a very poor job of doing so, "I need to get to Albuquerque _now_. Is there anyone who can help me?"

The woman now looked horrified at the fact that this teenage girl was sobbing, almost inches from her face. Gabriella _was _causing quite a scene. Onlookers were pausing to stare at the two.

"Ma'am, would you like a tissue?" The woman offered.

"No, I would _not _like a _tissue_. I would like a plane to Albuquerque!" Gabriella screamed. "And don't call me, ma'am. I don't want you to treat me like I'm a psychotic old woman. I'm only 17 and so is my boyfriend who is currently lying in a hospital bed in Albuquerque almost _dead_. I need a plane there. _Please!_" Gabriella was sobbing hysterically now.

"Ma'am… uh… Miss-"

"Gabriella. Gabriella Montez," Gabriella huffed, out of breath because of her speech.

"Miss Montez… we all have our problems. I, however, need to deal with a pipe breakage in the West Terminal. You… need to calm down or I will have security come and take you off the premises. Can you calm down for me?"

Gabriella was now angry instead of delirious.

"_We all have problems?_" Gabriella repeated in amazement. "Is _that _how you treat your customers? _We all have problems? _Well, let me tell you something, _ma'am_," Gabriella spat. "While you're off fixing a pipe, _I'm _fixing a broken past, mending a broken heart. Crying my eyes out over the man I love's body because it's _my _fault he's in a coma. I'm the one suffering because my father died and I blamed him! I blamed my boyfriend and yes, it was a stupid thing to do. Do you not think I realize that while he's lying in a bed unable to move…probably unable to _live _anymore? You can fix your pipe but I can't fix my heart. So please, by all means make sure that pipe is fixed but next time, treat your customers with more respect."

Gabriella turned on her heel and stormed off, the woman in a daze because she had obviously never been spoken to like that before.

Gabriella smirked and walked over to her seat, suddenly feeling worse. Her screaming made nothing better, just worse. That woman was probably going to make sure she was removed from the airport and then she would never get a plane ride home.

Gabriella collapsed into her chair, her eyes laden with tears. Gabriella placed her head in her hands and cried. She cried until he thought she could cry no more only to find out that she could. She could cry more but she didn't. Instead she sang quietly to herself.

_I know you were my fairytale_

_My dream when I'm not sleeping_

_My wish upon a star that's coming true _

_But now even I can tell _

_That I confused my feelings with the truth_

When there was me and you 

Meanwhile, Chad was also dealing with a problem. He had to make sure to keep an eye on Ryan while the rain tried to make sure he didn't. It came down in a white sheet now. Almost nothing was visible. Chad also had to deal with another problem. He needed to make sure that he didn't slip on the slick blacktop and hurt himself but maintaining both tasks proved to be impossible as Chad watched Ryan quickly dash across the parking lot.

Chad darted across the lot, his basketball shoes slipping in the water. He, Zeke, and Jason had shown up in their uniforms coming straight from practice to the hospital. Mr. Bolton was a true team player. Even though his son was in the hospital he held practices…_everyday_. Chad thought it was a way to keep Mr. Bolton's nerves down but truth be told, it was a way to keep Mr. Bolton from visiting Troy and finding his only son hald-dead in a hospital.

"Ryan!" Chad bellowed across the almost empty lot. He leaned against a green Sudan. "Ryan, please! Come back!"

Even through the roaring winds, Ryan had heard him. He stopped and turned around, looking around for a sign of his friends and he found Chad, leaning breathlessly against a green car.

"Ryan!" Chad screamed once again, "Ryan, you can tell me! You can tell me what you did!"

Ryan didn't walk over to Chad. He just collapsed onto the ground.

"Ryan!" Chad yelled in horror. He ran over. "Ryan! Ryan, are you okay?"

"No," Ryan sobbed. "Chad… I've-I've done something awful."

"It can't be that bad," Chad assured him.

"_No!_" Ryan sobbed harder. "You don't understand!"

"If I can't, I'll try," Chad said, looking Ryan right in his bright blue eyes.

"I-I can't," Ryan said, defeated.

They sat in silence for a while, rain pounded on their heads. Ryan's bright blonde hair soon became shades darker because of the water and the loss of sunlight. Chad however, was unphased by this problem. It was nothing compared to what he had been through for the past couple weeks.

"Ryan, why don't we go inside? Catching a pneumonia won't help the situation," Chad said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You can try to explain inside."

"No," Ryan said suddenly, standing up. "No. If I have to tell anyone it'll be you. Only you. I need to tell you now."

That's when Ryan started to unravel the truth.

Gabriella sat with her head in her hands on the bench next to the Cinnabon stand. Tears left shining streaks down her face and dark patches on her jeans. Suddenly, Gabriella's leg started to vibrate. Her phone was ringing.

Without even checking who was calling, Gabriella answered her phone and quickly said, "Hello?"

"Gabi, okay… stay calm… but Troy's…" Taylor began.

"No. Taylor. He can't be. He can't be…" Gabriella couldn't bring herself to say the word "dead". Not even if her life depended on it. Suddenly, Gabriella watched the bars on her cell phone's screen go down. She was losing battery.

"Gabi, Troy's dying…" And the phone went dead

Gabriella felt her blood run cold. She had left her charger in her backpack.

Meanwhile, Chad was doubting his cell phone would ever work again, charger or not, because of the rain soaking it but he didn't care. The only thing he cared about was Ryan… the only thing he _really _cared about was Ryan's story.

There are many ways to start off a bad conversation. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" is a popular one. There's also the "I don't know how to put this…" or even the "I think you better sit down." But when a conversation starts off as "I put Troy in the coma," you know the conversation is going to be interesting.

"Chad, I'm the reason that Troy is in the hospital," Chad stared at him dumbfounded. "No, really, I am!"

Chad thought that the emotional disturbance of Troy's coma was starting to get to Ryan, "Ryan, we all feel bad, but it wasn't your fault. I mean, everyday I keep thinking, if I was just there to warn him none of this would have happened! He's gonna be fine, Ryan, and no one could have done anything to help him."

"No, that's just it! You know how my mom's touring with a Broadway company? Well, we had just gotten a letter telling us that her tour was extending for another year…"

Chad interrupted, "Wait, hasn't she already been gone for two years?"

Ryan nodded and continued, "Then Sharpay got really mad and started yelling at me. That made me really mad so I went out to the garage and took the car. I wasn't even paying attention when I heard kind of a thud. I thought it was just someone's trash can lid…"

"But, alas! It was Troy."

"Oh, shut up! I looked, but I didn't really see anything. Then I saw this little girl, and she said there was this dead boy in the street, and I panicked. I just, you know, drove!"

The tears on Ryan's face mingled with the freshly fallen rain. His cheeks were bright red as well as his nose. His blonde hair had become stringy from the rain and it covered his blue eyes, once so lively now so dead. This had really affected him but everyone had taken for granted that he was just Ryan. Just Ryan, who was always happy and carefree… Chad now knew how wrong they were.

"So that's what happened," Ryan finished up. "That's why Troy is lying in a hospital, the once healthy, happy, carefree boy, a helpless, sick, almost d-dead one. And I'm sorry… I mean that with all my heart because without my friends I have no one and I would never do anything to try to hurt them."

Chad, however, had no answer to this. He was still in shock. How is it that _Ryan_, the happy, bright, funny, peppy boy, hit Troy? First Chad was angry but then he calmed down. It was an honest mistake… that was being kind. It was the biggest screw-up in the history of screw-ups but it wasn't intentional and nothing else mattered.

"Ryan, it's fine… you don't need to worry about it," Chad said, still awestruck.

"But how do you _know_? How do you know that I shouldn't worry about it?" Ryan asked, wiping the tears and rain off his face.

"Because Troy has been my best friend for as long as I remember. We're like brothers, best friends, teammates. We're always there for each other and we never let each other down. Troy's not going to let me down. He would never let his team down."

"I still don't know… I'm sorry… I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. Do you think I should tell the police?" Ryan asked, his aqua eyes turned to Chad's brown ones.

"I don't think it's necessary," Chad said, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Ryan questioned. "Why not?"

"Because—"

"Troy's awake! Troy's awake! Troy's awake! Troy's awake!" Kelsi's small voice bellowed. Chad and Ryan were not only startled about the news but they were startled about the fact that Kelsi had screamed so loud. They had been best friends with her for a long time and they had never heard her so loud before.

A couple hours earlier…

Gabriella lifted her head as she heard a voice blare through the speakers.

"The flight to Albuquerque has been-"

"Delayed," Gabriella said glumly through her drying tears.

"Rescheduled for twenty minutes from now at gate 5B."

Gabriella's heart pounded. She was going home!

Grabbing her cold coffee, unfinished Snickers, and her copy of _A Christmas Carol_, Gabriella ran as fast as she could to gate 5B.

The rest of the gang was gathered around Troy's hospital bed, all except Kelsi, Ryan, and Chad, Kelsi having gone to call Mr. and Mrs. Bolton unsuccessfully. Again and again she redialed their home phone (having no clue what their cell phone numbers were) but still no luck. She started screaming at the phone when she called the house for the twenty second time with no answer. Finally she told the doctors to get the information and do it themselves… she had to go see her friend.

Chad and Ryan slowly walked into the room, Ryan sniffling and Chad laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Ryan shot a look towards Chad who nodded his head. It was time Ryan confessed.

Ryan babbled out the story with great difficulty. A lump had risen in his throat and the tears threatened to fall again but the oddest thing was… no one seemed to care. The only thing that they were concerned about (including Troy) was Ryan's welfare. They wanted to know if _Ryan _was okay, to let _Ryan _know that he could always tell them anything, they wanted _Ryan _to be happy. The only person who this affected was Troy and he was the one who was the most supportive… in fact… Troy did something unbelievable.

"Thanks," Troy had said, pulling Ryan into a hug from the bed (he still wasn't allowed to get out of it.).

"Thanks?" Ryan asked. "_Thanks_? I put you in a coma!"

"I always wanted to know what it was like in a coma and you made it possible!" Troy teased. "No… I wanted to say thanks… because the coma made me realize that youth guarantees nothing and I took it for granted way too many times. This made me realize that I should hold on to the people I love and never let go… speaking of which… when's Gabi going to get here?"

A silence fell on the group of teenagers. Taylor fake laughed.

"Funny you should mention that… see… we're all going to laugh about this someday… She thinks you're dead," Taylor finished quickly.

"Dead? Why would she think I was dead. You told her I was dying to see her… didn't you?" Troy asked nervously, pushing himself up on his pillows with difficulty. He was at full alert now.

"Well… I got the _dying _part in before the line went…I hate using this word… dead-ish-ness… so yeah… all she kinda heard was "Troy's dying-" …I can't imagine her at her happiest right now… so um… don't kill me… I think she may be… depressed… and um… unable to speak right now…"

"'Unable to speak'?" Troy asked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Her phone's in a slump of depression, too," Taylor tried to explain in the happiest voice she could muster.

"Her phone went dead?" Chad asked.

"Yeah."

Silence. The silence was interrupted by a scream in the hallway.

"Let me through!" Gabriella's voice screamed in the hallway.

Troy immediately slumped into the pillows, his eyes closed.

"Troy!" Ryan whisper-shouted. The tears on his face were still there.

Troy responded with a wink and shut his eyes again. Taylor opened her mouth to protest but was instantly quieted by the slam of the door.

Gabriella was standing in the doorway.

The scene was unreal. Troy was lying on the bed, eyes closed, chest barely moving. Jason let out a snicker that Gabriella had mistaken for a sniffle and Ryan's tears lingered on his face as he wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"Troy!" Gabriella said loudly.

She rushed over to the bed and threw her arms around him.

"Troy! Troy! I'm sorry!" She sobbed.

Troy lifted his hand and patted her on the back.

"It's okay, Gabi," He whispered.

"_Troy!_" Gabriella shouted and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "Troy! You're alright!"

"I would be if you let go of my chest," Troy choked.

"I'm sorry…. You need to eat. When was the last time you ate?" Gabriella asked, acting exactly like Troy's mother.

"Weeks ago… they don't feed me at the hospital," Troy said with a grin. He was just happy that Gabriella was back.

"Oh my God!" Gabriella squealed.

"Gabi, I'm kidding," Troy said.

"Oh." Gabriella hit Troy in the head with a gift shop teddy bear Sharpay had given him a couple of days ago.

"Ow," Troy said, rubbing his head.

"Don't you ever do that again, Troy! You scared me to death!" Gabriella screamed, hitting him once more with the teddy bear.

"And to think I could be dead right now."

"Troy!" That comment earned him another hit with the teddy bear.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it."

They were all alone… when this had happened they didn't know. It was kind of scary to think of… their friends were that stealthy that they could sneak away without being noticed.

Without warning, Gabriella leaned in and kissed Troy.

"I missed you," She said.

"I love you," Troy said back.

"Ohhhhhhhh!" the group cooed from the open door.

Troy turned to Gabriella.

"May I?" He asked.

Gabriella handed him the teddy bear and troy threw it right in the middle of the group, hitting Chad in the head.

"Ow."

Everyone laughed, including Chad as they walked into the room.

So through and through, thick and thin, small and large, friends are friends forever. And love conquers all. Amor omnia vincit. Reaching for heaven… together. That's just life.

**As/n: We want to thank everyone for reviewing and reading. But you're not finished yet! We still want to know what you thought of this final installment of Man Am I in Trouble. Remember to look for our other stories including our newest: Falling through Time. But don't worry, that's not our last story. Goodbye for the last time in this story!**

**CoCoPixie134**


	12. Authors Note

**As/n: Stay tuned to our next story: Falling Through Time!**

**An old photo album laid under a couch, collecting dust, fading, silently waiting for someone to open its pages but it never expected this…**

_Hey, everybody! Look at what Kelsi found!_

**Page by page, the book reveals their pasts…**

**The good…**

_Ow! This coffee is really hot! _

_Gabriella laughs_

**And the bad…**

_They took her and she isn't coming back!_

**The unbelievable…**

_Because my parents don't care that she's gone!_

**And the horrible…**

_Troy, you cannot do this!_

_Dad, what's so wrong with her?_

_Everything!_

_Why can't I see her, Dad?_

_Because I said so!_

**Join the gang…**

**As they fall through the times… **

**That brought them together…**

_Chad and Troy laugh_

**Tore them apart…**

_Why do you care so much about what your dad thinks when it's so wrong?_

**And made them who they are…**

_What would I do without you guys?_

_Nothing._

**From the creators Man am I in Trouble and Welcome to Seattle…**

**Comes a tale of friendship…**

**Heartbreak…**

**And of something to believe in…**

**Starring**

**Zac Efron**

**Vanessa Hudgens**

**Corbin Bleu**

**Monique Coleman**

**Lucas Grabeel**

**Ashley Tisdale**

**Ryne Sanbourn**

**Olesya Rulin**

**And Chris Warren Jr.**

**Falling Through Time…**

**Coming to a fanfiction near you.**


	13. Authors Note 2

**As/n: Stay tuned to our next story: Falling Through Time!**

**An old photo album laid under a couch, collecting dust, fading, silently waiting for someone to open its pages but it never expected this…**

_Hey, everybody! Look at what Kelsi found!_

**Page by page, the book reveals their pasts…**

**The good…**

_Ow! This coffee is really hot! _

_Gabriella laughs_

**And the bad…**

_They took her and she isn't coming back!_

**The unbelievable…**

_Because my parents don't care that she's gone!_

**And the horrible…**

_Troy, you cannot do this!_

_Dad, what's so wrong with her?_

_Everything!_

_Why can't I see her, Dad?_

_Because I said so!_

**Join the gang…**

**As they fall through the times… **

**That brought them together…**

_Chad and Troy laugh_

**Tore them apart…**

_Why do you care so much about what your dad thinks when it's so wrong?_

**And made them who they are…**

_What would I do without you guys?_

_Nothing._

**From the creators Man am I in Trouble and Welcome to Seattle…**

**Comes a tale of friendship…**

**Heartbreak…**

**And of something to believe in…**

**Starring**

**Zac Efron**

**Vanessa Hudgens**

**Corbin Bleu**

**Monique Coleman**

**Lucas Grabeel**

**Ashley Tisdale**

**Ryne Sanbourn**

**Olesya Rulin**

**And Chris Warren Jr.**

**Falling Through Time…**

**Coming to a fanfiction near you.**


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